MOSCOW. July 16 (Interfax-AVN) - Over 300 military intelligence agents have been killed in Chechnya since the beginning of military operations, Army General Valentin Korabelnikov, head of the Main Intelligence Department in the Armed Forces General Staff, has said.
"Real losses are indeed high, they exceed 300 people. I am speaking about all military intelligence bodies," Korabelnikov said in an interview with the Izvestia daily published on Wednesday.
According to him, the Military Intelligence Department has no serious problems with manning its structures.
"The situation is different in different structures, but the general manning level in military intelligence is quite high. Manning takes place proceeding from the missions assigned to a certain body and from its importance for the general military intelligence system. Of course, we concentrate efforts on the areas that determine the general efficiency of military intelligence actions," Korabelnikov said.
These areas include radio-technical and space intelligence, as well as action units, the director went on. "All of them do not fall below the acceptable level. However it is natural that we would like the manning level to be higher in some areas," he said.
Asked about the current "geography" of the Main Intelligence Department's interests, Korabelnikov said that his agency determines how serious the emerging threat to Russia's national security is, where it is coming from, and how soon it will arise, primarily in the military sphere.
"If the threat is emerging and becoming quite clear, no matter how far it is, military intelligence efforts are adjusted. That is why I cannot say that we have abandoned remote areas of the globe: we must see all emerging or possible threats no matter where they are. In this sense, military intelligence continues accomplishing its missions as it used to do, and I hope that it will continue doing so in the future," Korabelnikov said.
According to him, the Main Intelligence Department, being a state body, "must know what is going on abroad in the military sphere and its components, in particular, in the military- technical field."
"We must know about the main spheres of research, R&D, samples, etc. We naturally conduct intelligence in this sphere. Being a state body and acting in the state interests, we report results of our activity to the leaders of the Defense Ministry and General Staff and send materials to the defense industry branches that can use them for creating more perfect armament and military hardware," Korabelnikov said.